Built within a valley surrounded by naturally-formed karst hills in China's remote and mountainous southwestern Guizhou province, the FAST radio telescope's huge dish is equal in size to 30 football pitches and was built from 4,000 individual metal panels.

The feasibility study for the telescope was carried out over 14 years and construction took more than five years to complete.

Chinese state media have enthusiastically focused on FAST's huge size, noting that it dwarfs by 200 metres the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which at 305 metres in diameter had been the world's largest single-aperture telescope since the 1960s until the Chinese telescope was completed in July.

"FAST's potential to discover an alien civilisation will be five to 10 times that of current equipment, as it can see farther and darker plants," the NAO's Peng Bo told China's official Xinhua news agency when construction on the radio telescope was completed in July.

FAST is expected to place China as the global leader in deep space radio telescope research for 10 or 20 years.

The last panel of China's FAST radio telescope is installed in July, 2016. [China Daily/Reuters]

China's space programme has been a priority for President Xi Jinping who is intent on making his country a space power. Beijing's ambitions include putting a man on the Moon by 2036 and building their own space station - work on which has already begun - by around 2022.

China insists its programme is for peaceful purposes. The US defence department has highlighted Beijing's increasing space capabilities, and apart from civilian ambitions, China has tested anti-satellite missiles.